Author

Cayce McCarthy

This image is from Google images they do not belong to the author.

​ This is part 3 of the Phantom Blog. I hope you guys have been enjoying this mini-blog series so far and I will now pick up from where I left off in part two where I was discussing how the play became a movie. Now the hardest part of making the film was finding the right actors to play the characters; especially the Phantom. Two people who were traditionally up for the role was Michael Jackson and Antonio Banderas. Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones were going to play the Phantom and Christine together when Webber and Schumacher tried making the film in the 90s. But as you know from the previous blog that film fell flat. When they started to film the movie again in 2003/2004 Webber offered the role to Hugh Jackman, but Jackman had some scheduling conflicts. While making the 2004 film Webber wanted someone with a rock and roll kind of sound to their voice. He wanted to present a dangerous kind of tone in the Phantom since it’s the Phantom’s dangerous side Christine is attracted to. He brought this up with Schumacher who eventually discovered who would be the Phantom. Schumacher was impressed with the actor Gerard Butler when he saw his performance in the Wes Craven film, Dracula 2000. Butler was asked to audition for the role and only had four music lessons before singing in front of Webber, however, Butler did have prior experience as a singer when he was younger.

​ These images are from Google images they do not belong to the author. Many people argue that Butler was the wrong choice for the Phantom because they were so used to the Phantom having a more classic tenor sound than the sound of a tenor/baritone rock star. For me personally, and I might be biased here since the 2004 film was my first Phantom experience, but Gerard Butler is my favorite phantom. I love his original and raw voice that I believe brings so much power to the role. His voice and acting has so much emotion that I never understand why people don’t like him as the phantom. Even in the end scene when he’s down in the liar for the final act Butler manages to captivate the audience with his pain and suffering in the part of the story where people have a tough time giving any sympathy for him; especially after all the killing he’s done.

​ These images are from Google images they do not belong to the author.​ Next, we have Emmy Rossum who landed the role of Christine. Rossum is a singer-songwriter who started her music career with New York’s Metropolitan Opera Children’s Chorus at age seven. She did this for five years until she outgrew the roles. From there, she went to school and then pursued her acting career. Rossum almost missed the chance to audition for Christine due to a previous engagement. However, Rossum was invited to a private audition with Webber in his own home where she got the part. Rossum was nominated a Golden Globe for her performance and won two more awards for the role. Rossum has a gorgeous voice and is a skillful actress herself.

​ These images are from Google images they do not belong to the author. Now the last actor to discuss is Patrick Wilson who landed the role as Raoul. Wilson is an actor and a singer who started his Broadway career in 1995. He’s a two-time Tony Award nominee for his roles in The Full Monty and Oklahoma! Wilson’s role as Raoul was only his second film role of his acting career. Webber knew Wilson from the previous mentioned roles and was offered to play Raoul. Webber’s Raoul is fifty times better than Leroux’s Raoul. Again, no offense to any book fans. The only thing I don’t like about Raoul in the movie is how he doesn’t believe Christine when she first tells him of the Phantom and just brushes it aside as her childlike imagination. Wilson has continued with his acting career and nowadays is known for his role in horror films such as The Conjuring and the Insidious series. I love how Phantom has made it to thirty years and I hope it just keeps going! So, here’s to Phantom, let’s hope it makes it to the big fifty. Maybe even the big one hundred. That’s all for this blog series. ‘til next time.